Reinforcing Leadership Lessons at the Heart of Advocacy

Published October 24, 2025< | Request Information

For Tabitha Ellis, “servant leadership” has been at the heart of her journey from local to global impact.

Inspired by the example of her father and bolstered by childhood health challenges, the Johns Hopkins MS in Organizational Leadership student is calling on her JHU education to turn her experiences into opportunities that create change and touch lives.

“My dad, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant and radiology technician, always modeled what a good leader was,” said Ellis who moved frequently as a child while her father served in progressively responsible leadership roles in the military, “His embodiment of servant leadership—supporting and advocating for his team while creating opportunities for their personal and professional growth—has been a constant source of inspiration. Because of what I learned by watching him lead with respect and empathy, I knew I wanted to pursue an organizational leadership degree. I decided to enroll full time at Johns Hopkins with 100-percent focus so that I could take the time to not only learn, but to absorb what I was learning. It also gave me the space to reflect on where I wanted to go next and what I wanted my life to look like. What drew me to Johns Hopkins’s leadership program was its foundational emphasis on the elements of morals, ethics, and values and the critical role they play in effective leadership. I knew I would be challenged and that I would grow from the experience. I have learned that I am more capable than I thought I was. Choosing to study organizational leadership at Johns Hopkins has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Much of Ellis’ desire to amplify her leadership also stems from her ongoing work with the American Heart Association. Since 2015, Ellis has assembled a lengthy and impressive resume of volunteerism with the organization. The AHA 2023 Equity Leadership Award winner for the Eastern States region, Ellis was named co-chair of the 2025 New York State Advocacy Committee and a member of the National Emerging Leaders Council and Eastern States Region Board of Directors.

Ellis credits the skills that she perfected during a decade in television, film, and musical theater with advancing her confidence and impact as a New York City-based Lived-Experience Advocate with the AHA.

Born with an undetected hole in her heart that required invasive surgery and a valve replacement when she was just two years old, Ellis later experienced complications from her cardiovascular disease and a compromised immune system. Though she recovered enough from frequent hospitalizations in her youth to emerge as a five-sport athlete in high school, she faced another challenge when she suffered a stroke at age 28. Ellis believes these health hurdles have inspired the ongoing work that has taken her to both national and international stages.

“I am here because of people who have generously donated to the AHA,” said Ellis, who has been fundraising in support of AHA since she was 10 years old. “Research-funded technology is the reason that many people, including me, can live long, healthy lives. What we try to do here in NYC is to really fight for equity and equality in healthcare, to really make sure that a person’s zip code doesn’t dictate whether their life gets to be long, full, and healthy. This cause is one that I carry with me every day, close to my medically cleared and now fully functional heart.”

Ellis was among a contingent of AHA representatives who joined in discussions at the United Nations in May 2025. Attendees presented data and devised strategies for meeting the World Health Organization’s and UN’s 2030 targets for combating and reducing noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. In late October 2025, she will be honored as the recipient of the Dominic A. Murray 21 Memorial Foundation “Heart of the Community” Award for her work promoting the screening, diagnosis, and immediate treatment of sudden cardiac arrest, particularly for youth. Ellis was also recently elected as a North America representative to the Global Mental Health Action Network and will be attending the Fourth Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum in the Philippines in February 2026, as part of her two-year term. She will also serve as a guest editor – along with Antonis Kousoulis, MD, John Pateña DrPH, MPH, MA, and Stephanie Whitman, MPH – for a special Spring 2026 issue of the Journal of Public Mental Health focused on improving the understanding of the integration of physical and mental health and offering solutions.

Ellis is confident that her degree, which she will collect in May 2026, will bolster her growing leadership efforts. “It is inspiring to be in a room with these global leaders and to see their willingness to listen to others’ perspectives, to witness their commitment to bring change, and their hope for the future,” she said. “I feel so blessed, even with all the hardship that I have endured, and I try to stay open to the opportunities that life brings me. I am already feeling the snowball effect of all of these opportunities that have come my way. The combination of my AHA work, my JHU education, and the relationship-building has allowed my leadership to now be amplified and expanded into the mental health space, through an international lens. This is what you work really hard for, the ability to collaborate with more organizations and more people. That is the whole goal, to make the bigger impact, to create the sustainable change, not only in leadership, but in the every day. This is what our Hopkins program is teaching us. I have put my best foot forward here at Hopkins, and I think it is definitely leading me down a successful path. I have had the best journey, and I absolutely love doing the work that Johns Hopkins has prepared me to do.”